Chicken Parmigiana with Zucchini Noodles

Chicken Parmigiana with Zucchini Noodles

This is for you Susan!  

Upon request from one of my bestest friends I created this dish.  She has been requesting a high protein low carb recipe and this is what I came up with.  If love Italian food, but need to cut the carbs you are pretty much up a creek, but this dish is the perfect cure for that pasta crave. 

I got this idea while watching Iron Chef America the other night.  It was battle zucchini and Bobby Flay made a dish were he used zucchini as noodles.  I filed this in the back of the recipe box in my head.  I was very, very pleased with the results it was absolutely delicious.  The zucchini noodles were light and had just a bit of crunch.  I breaded the chicken breast in panko bread crumbs which are surprisingly very low in carbs, 1/2 a cup of panko bread crumbs only has 24 g of carbs.  I was able to bread 3 chicken breast with just 1/2 cup of crumbs, which means each breast only had 8 g of carbs.  Sweet right?  The panko was great on the chicken breast, made them light and crunchy.  

Here we go….

This is the crew, minus the green onions, I decided I didn’t need them.

Take 3 large chicken breast and place in a 1 gallon Ziploc bag.  Take a rolling pin and pound them out to about 1 inch.

Fill a shallow pan, (I used a pie dish) with 1 cup reduced fat buttermilk.  Let them soak for about 5 minutes.

While the chicken sits in the butter milk, fill another shallow pan or plate with 1/2 a cup of panko bread crumbs. 

Add to the panko crumbs 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 kosher salt & 1/4 pepper.  Mix well.

Take your chicken breast and transfer to the panko, coating the chicken on both sides.  

Transfer to a baking sheet brushed with 1 1/2 Tbs of olive oil.  Bake in the oven at 350 for 25 minutes, turning the breasts half way.

While the chicken is in the oven take you zucchini and cut in half.  I used 6 small zucchinis.

Now this is where I did some improve.  If you have a spiral slicer use it, if you come up with another way to do this leave me a comment.  This is what I did.  This is what I used.

Take the zester and run it down the zucchini.  Like so….  

Do this along all the sides till you get to the core.  Discard the core.

Do the same thing with 1 yellow squash.

Make sure you have 2 generous cups of zucchini and squash. Set aside.

Thinly slice 1 shallot.

Mince 3 garlic cloves.

Dice 1 vine ripe tomato.

Slice 1/4 cup of roasted red pepper and 1/4 cup of fresh basil, which I forgot to photograph.

Check your chicken, do you need to flip it?

Heat a 1 Tbs of olive oil in a large skillet.  Add garlic and shallot and saute till they just beginning to get translucent.

Add 1/4 cup of tomato sauce and half of your basil.  Stir and cook at a medium heat for 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes and red peppers, stir and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the zucchini noodles.

Toss with the sauce and saute at a medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl.  You don’t want to the zucchini to over cook and get soft.

Pull the chicken from the oven and sprinkle with mozzarella.

Transfer to broiler and cook on normal until the cheese melts and bubbles. Mmmmmm….

Serve the chicken over the pasta, garnish with fresh basil, diced tomato and drizzle with olive oil.

Consume with vigor because it is Ohhhhhhh so YUM-E!

Chicken Parmigiana with Zucchini Noodles (2 servings w/ 1 left over chicken breast)

3 chicken breasts

1 cup reduced fat buttermilk

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp pepper

6 small zucchinis

1 large yellow squash

1 shallot

3 cloves garlic

1 vine ripe tomato

1/4 cup roasted red pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1/2 cup mozzarella

3 tbs olive oil

Take 3 large chicken breast and place in a 1 gallon Ziploc bag. Take a rolling pin and pound them out to about 1 inch.

Fill a shallow pan, (I used a pie dish) with 1 cup reduced fat buttermilk. Let them soak for about 5 minutes.

While the chicken sits in the butter milk, fill another shallow pan or plate with 1/2 a cup of panko bread crumbs.

Add to the panko crumbs 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 kosher salt & 1/4 pepper. Mix well.

Take your chicken breast and transfer to the panko, coating the chicken on both sides.

Transfer to a baking sheet brushed with 1 1/2 Tbs of olive oil. Bake in the oven at 350 for 25 minutes, turning the breasts half way.

While the chicken is in the oven take you zucchini and cut in half. I used 6 small zucchinis.

Take a zest-er and run it down the zucchini. Do this along all the sides till you get to the core. Discard the core. Do the same thing with 1 yellow squash. Make sure you have 2 generous cups of zucchini and squash. Set aside.

Thinly slice 1 shallot, mince 3 garlic cloves, dice 1 vine ripe tomato, slice 1/4 cup of roasted red pepper and 1/4 cup of fresh basil.

Check your chicken, do you need to flip it?

Heat a 1 Tbs of olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and shallot and saute till they just beginning to get translucent.

Add 1/4 cup of tomato sauce and half of your basil. Stir and cook at a medium heat for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and red peppers, stir and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the zucchini noodles. Toss with the sauce and saute at a medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. You don’t want to the zucchini to over cook and get soft.

Pull the chicken from the oven and sprinkle with mozzarella. Transfer to broiler and cook on normal until the cheese melts and bubbles.

Serve the chicken over the pasta, garnish with fresh basil, diced tomato and drizzle with olive oil.